Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan revealed why Dabney Coleman was destined to play John Dutton Sr. in the hit show in a touching resurfaced interview.
Sheridan, 53, whose iconic series stars Kevin Costner as ranch owner John Dutton III, said he had been struck by 91-year-old Coleman’s kindness when he starred alongside him on show, The Guardian.
Coleman memorably appeared in the Yellowstone season two finale episode in 2019, ‘Sins of the Father’ which saw him portray Costner’s father in the final moments of his life.
The pair go on one last horseback ride together and take in the sights before the older Dutton dies.
That year Sheridan said of the casting in to Deadline: ‘I’d written [the Yellowstone episode] but I believe I was prepping a movie in New Mexico and I think [Dabney Coleman] reached out and said he would be really interested in doing something.
Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan revealed why Dabney Coleman was destined to play John Dutton Sr. in the hit show in a touching interview (pictured with Kevin Costner in season two)
Sheridan, 53, whose iconic series stars Kevin Costner as ranch owner John Dutton III, said he had been struck by 91-year-old Coleman’s kindness when he starred alongside him on show, The Guardian
‘I had worked with Dabney many, many years ago, almost 20 years ago, as one of the young pups. He’s a Texas guy and was such a gifted, giving actor and I was really struck by how good he was, and how kind he was, to this kid who was guest starring on his deal.
‘Its funny; I’ve employed a lot of people who were good to me when I was a young actor. Buck Taylor was in the first thing I ever did. I put him in Yellowstone.
‘There’s something about that show that lends itself to hiring friends and family.’
The last episodes of the highly-popular CBS series starring Costner are set to air in November 2024.
This comes just months after it was reported that the 68-year-old leading man would be exiting the series in the first half of season 5.
Diehard Yellowstone fans did get some good news, however, as Paramount has greenlit two new spinoff series.
One will be named 1944 and the other is a contemporary series which is currently titled 2024.
There are already two spinoff series in the Yellowstone universe which are highly-popular titled 1883 and 1923.
Sheridan said: ‘I had worked with Dabney many, many years ago, almost 20 years ago, as one of the young pups. He’s a Texas guy and was such a gifted, giving actor; Sheridan is seen in 2021 in Las Vegas
American filmmaker and actor Taylor Sheridan is the mastermind of the franchise and spinoffs as Yellowstone first premiered in 2018 with Costner in the starring role of John Dutton.
The relationship between Costner and 53-year-old Sheridan was anything but harmonious as in April, DailyMail.com reported new details about their rift.
Sources claimed Sheridan developed a ‘God complex’ which left Costner reportedly frustrated with the development of the hit Paramount Network series.
The outlet also claimed morale had been dwindling among the cast as they are not kept up to date on Costner’s negotiations with producers.
‘Kevin will forever be proud of and grateful for Yellowstone and the cast is like family to him,’ the source said of Costner, who recently nabbed a Golden Globe Award for best actor for his portrayal of John Dutton.
‘He just felt like Yellowstone is headed in a direction that was not in line with their initial vision and he was met with criticism, including that he should just stick to acting.’
In April, the New York Post reported that Costner’s desire to cut down his workload on the fifth season to focus on other projects was also to blame for the tension between him and Sheridan.
‘It’s the same as with any show runner and big star — there’s respect, but there’s friction,’ a source described as ‘well-placed’ within the production told the outlet.
Earlier this year Costner directed and starred in Horizon, a western film series consisting of four separate movies that will be released three months apart from each other.
The last episodes of the highly-popular CBS series starring Costner are set to air in November 2024
Each film is close to three hours long and after the quadruple release, Horizon is going to be broken into a series for television – each with 42-minute episodes.
Another ‘highly placed’ Hollywood source told the outlet that some of the blame for the ‘friction’ on set lies with its creator.
‘Taylor is the star of his show. He’s the most important person on all of his shows,’ they said.
Deadline reported in February that Costner wanted to shoot for only a week on the second half of season five, after he had already shortened his work on the first half.
The apparent reason was that the actor wanted to focus on his upcoming Western film franchise Horizon.
But Costner’s attorney Marty Singer shot back after the report and claimed to Puck News that it was an ‘absolute lie’ that his client would only shoot for a week.
‘As everyone who knows anything about Kevin is well aware, he is incredibly passionate about the show and has always gone way above and beyond to ensure its success,’ he said at the time.
Meanwhile a spinoff with Matthew McConaughey in the lead role is moving forward though it still remains unclear if it will be 1944, 2024, or something completely different.
Star-studded: There are already two spinoff series in the Yellowstone universe which are highly-popular titled 1883 and 1923 (pictured starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren)
Back in April, President and CEO of Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios Chris McCarthy said the new show starring McConaughey will go on, regardless of whether Costner decides to stay with the original series, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
McCarthy released a statement about the upcoming projects on Thursday which read: ‘Within five years, we grew Yellowstone from a hit U.S. cable show with five million viewers into a global hit franchise with over 100 million fans around the world and multiple extensions – and, we’re just getting started.
‘On the heels of 1883 and 1923’s success, our new planned spinoffs, 1944 and 2024, will take audiences on a thrilling, new and unexpected journey with the complex and compelling storytelling that has become a hallmark of the franchise and has helped turn it into a worldwide cultural phenomenon – thanks to the creative mastermind of Taylor Sheridan.’